Library Partners
by ChubbyPanda14
Summary: Tom Riddle does not have friends. He has devoted followers, house mates, acquaintances, but not friends. He has a library partner, too, though. And that's close enough for him. Could be seen as pre-slash or friendship.


**Library Partners**

Tom heard the chair across from his move. He didn't look up immediately, because that would make him seem surprised or interested, and Slytherins did not get surprised or interested. At least, not when others could see them. The mystery person that had quite boldly invaded his personal space didn't seem to mind the lack of reaction, and instead got a textbook, some parchment, and a quill out from his bag.

When Tom couldn't hold back his curiosity anymore, he looked up from his Transfiguration essay and blinked.

Harry Potter.

Tom didn't see that one coming, not at _all_. It was less surprising than, perhaps, one of the Hufflepuffs that were, quite frankly, scared to pieces of him. But it was still surprising.

Tom glanced around the library to see if the other tables were full (he kept a silencing charm around his because some people just didn't care about respecting the work of others) but they were all empty.

'Why?' Tom wanted to ask the Gryffindor. 'What do you want? What's the point of sitting here if you could sit by yourself?' but he didn't. The Slytherin Prefect didn't want to disturb the nice, quiet atmosphere at his table by starting a fight. So instead he went about his essay like he always did.

It was probably a one-time thing anyway.

**XDXDXDXDXDXDXD**

Two days later it happened again. Tom had been working on his Arithmancy during dinner (while his housemates were too busy stuffing their faces to bother him), when the chair across from his moved, disturbing his train of thought.

Tom didn't bother trying to veil his curiosity this time, and looked up to find then other boy taking out his homework (looked like Defense), looking like this was something he did all of the time. Tom went back to Arithmancy.

It wasn't like he had a problem with Harry Potter sitting with him. The Gryffindor was very quiet, unlike the vast majority of the lions (and all the other students), and he didn't actively try to interrupt Toms business or talk to him.

So no, Tom didn't have a problem with Harry Potter sitting with him. It was just that it was _Harry Potter_. Gryffindor, wealthy family, above average intelligence, Quidditch player (Seeker, not that Tom had actually noticed or anything). He was just not the kind of person that Tom normally associated with.

The people Tom was normally around were a lot less… pleasant in certain aspects.

They had things in common, too, Tom thought as he opened another Arithmancy book. They were both the top students in Defense Against the Dark Arts (much to Hermione Grangers displeasure), they were both Prefects for their respective houses, too.

They both had dark hair, too (though Toms was more a deep brown whereas Potters was black, not that he had paid attention to Potters face too much).

Tom shook his head a little bit. Enough thinking about Potter. He had to go back to Arithmancy if he wanted to stay ahead of Granger and keep his place at the top of his class.

**XDXDXDXDXDXD**

Three days later and Tom was having a very rough day. His housemate Draco Malfoy had followed him through the halls, chattering away like some sort of undignified Hufflepuff.

And Dumbledore had started meddling in his business _again_.

Tom had been working with Headmaster Dippet for _months _on the Independent Study Program! It had been perfectly planned out, it was school regulated, it had general teacher approval, and it had been Toms sure-fire way of earning the Headboy Badge in two years.

So now Tom was in the library, going over all of the projects notes to see if there was any possible way to improve it and earn Dumbledore's approval.

Anyway, Tom was properly infuriated. Which was why, when Harry Potter sat down across from him in the library again, he snapped.

"What? What do you want?" he snarled, and was very grateful for his silencing charms. Or else there would have been a feather-duster wielding woman squawking at them immediately.

Potter just blinked. "Well, I was planning to work on my charms project." Potters voice was filled with unnecessary sarcasm, which was the absolutely last thing Tom needed at the moment.

"Find somewhere else to do it, then!" Tom went back to his parchment, fully expecting Potter to leave. So, it came as a surprise (even though it probably shouldn't have) when Potter opened his mouth again.

"No."

Toms jaw dropped slightly (as in not noticeable to anyone). Nobody said no to him, not anymore. Not since he had revealed his status as Slytherins Heir to the other people in his house. Tom quickly put himself together. He was the face of Slytherin; he couldn't show his emotions so plainly on his face like that.

When Tom looked up from his (already perfect) plan, Potter was just looking at him.

Tom wasn't going to give up, though. Potter wasn't the only one with a backbone. "I don't believe you have a choice on the matter."

"Everybody has their choices," Harry replied evenly. "And mine is that I am not going to give up the _best_ table in the library so _you _can sulk."

"I don't sulk," Tom said, gritting his teeth and glaring at him so hard it almost hurt.

Potter was not perturbed. In fact he smirked a little bit (the nerve!). "Then what do you snakes call it? Gryffindors call it sulking, but I suppose it must vary from house to house."

Tom found the statement amusing (but only a little bit!) and said, in the voice he reserved for people who had severely crossed him. "I'm planning murder. More specifically yours if you don't leave."

"I'll help you plan it then. It has to be something big so I can go out with a bang."

"Are you crazy or stupid?" Tom shook his head. "No, you're just a Gryffindor. It can't be helped.'

Tom looked back down toward his parchment, fully intending to stop the conversation. 'If you ignore him, he'll go away.'

Then Potter had to speak again.

"Is this about your Independent Study thing? I heard Dumbledore stopped it."

Tom looked up and glared at him again. "How did _you_ hear about that?"

Potter didn't even flinch. "Hermione's been whining about it since she found out. And Madame Pomfrey asked me if I would like to study under her when it goes into effect."

Tom should have asked about Granger, but all that went through his head was "You want to be a _healer_?"

Potter sighed. "Why is everybody so surprised? It's not like stupid. And my mum is one, too."

Tom internally shook his head. There were bigger things to deal with than a Gryffindors life goals. "How did Granger find out? Why was she upset about it?" How could that know-it-all possibly be upset about the program? It was specifically designed for people who were ahead in school, and as much as he would like to deny it, she was one of those people.

Potter actually had the nerve to laugh (Laugh! At him!) And said, "Oh, she was upset, but not about the program. She was upset because she wasn't the one to come up with it. All she has is SPEW."

Tom felt a little better when he heard she wasn't upset about the program (not that he would ever admit it), but he still wanted to know how she found out. Potter started talking again before he could repeat his previous question, though.

"See, she was doing advanced work in Potions already, and Slughorn let it slip that there was a program in process that would make it easier for students to earn masteries. And then she started asking questions, and you know how Slughorn is."

Tom nodded his head. He knew all too well how Slughorn was. He had used the Head of Slytherin for many things over the past years.

'So why did Dumbledore shut it down?"

And suddenly Tom felt his anger bubbling back up to the surface. "His official reason is that it gives some students an unfair advantage over others, and that quite a few students haven't reached their full potential." Tom was fully expecting Potter to agree with his Head of House. After all, the Gryffindors best friend had most certainly not reached his full potential.

And once again, Tom was proved wrong. (Twice in one day? It's an outrage!)

"That's so stupid! People could say that Prefects get an advantage over others! And he's been giving McGonagall private lessons since last year!"

Tom nodded. "Exactly!"

"And so what if some students haven't started working hard yet? That's their problem! The ones who deserve to be in the program are the ones who've been working hard since the beginning anyway! How far were you to launching the program?"

Tom responded immediately. "We were composing the letter to the School Board for final approval."

"You were almost done! How did Dumbledore manage to convince Dippet to go back on so much work?"

"If you had half a brain, Potter, you would know that Dippet has been under Dumbledore's thumb for ages. It doesn't matter how he went about cancelling it."

"And I'm guessing you have to start over?"

"Or quit. Which is never happening."

Potter went quiet for a moment, obviously trying to think of a solution. Tom appreciated the silence. It was helping him calm back down since Potter had found it necessary to get him all wound up again.

Tom wouldn't lie, though. It was nice talking with someone who seemed to actually care about the program and what it was about.

Potter had apparently figured something out. "Why don't you just send in the original proposal letter?"

Tom snapped again (Potter was truly good at getting him mad. Wonder if he does it on purpose.). "Are you _trying _to get me in trouble?"

Potter shrugged. "You're acquainted with Draco Malfoy aren't you? His father is on the school board. You can send your plans and stuff to him and ask him on his opinion. If the school board finds out Dumbledore shut down a good idea…"

That was probably the most Slytherin idea Potter had ever had in his lifetime.

As much as Tom wanted to deny it on the soul principle that he didn't come up with it, it was a very good idea, and there was the obvious bonus of Dumbledore getting in trouble.

It was a good plan (Though Tom would never tell Potter that.).

"What makes you think Lucius Malfoy would listen to me?"

Potter smiled. "Everybody listens to you."

Then Potter got up, gathered his things, and left the library. Leaving a very thoughtful Slytherin behind.

**XDXDXDXDXDXDXDXD**

It was an estimated two weeks later when that subject was brought up again. Emphasis on that subject. Tom had spoken with Potter nearly every day on many topics to various extents.

As it turns out, he and Potter had very similar views on the equality of magic. Though Potter was mainly a light wizard, and he specialized in light magic, he believed all magic was equal. Tom had privately thought about how to turn him into a follower, but had dropped the idea when he thought about how that would mean the only wizard in the world (that wasn't Dumbledore) that stood up to him would become a mindless slave. Tom Riddle was relatively found of Potters opinionated independence and stupidity, thank you very much.

Over the two weeks Tom spoke with Potter, he also wrote a fair couple of letters to Lucius Malfoy. It probably shouldn't have surprised him, but Malfoy Senior was very interested in the project.

I mean, the older wizard just seemed like he wouldn't take an interest in what was going on in Hogwarts, school board or not. Tom had suspicions that Malfoy just wanted the program to go into place so that he could help his son even further into the world.

Anyway, two weeks (estimated) after Potter had given him the idea, Tom received a letter from the School Board itself telling him about how the news of Dumbledore so blatantly interfering with the Headmasters duties with such a ridiculous basis concerned them, and how they would be looking into it further.

It also said they were planning on starting up his program.

Tom had spent a full forty-five minutes ranting animatedly to Potter about it until he finally noticed his companions amusement. When asked what was so funny, Harry replied "I already know they're starting you project, Tom."

Tom had (almost) sputtered indignantly, and he asked Harry how it was possible that he already knew about it.

"Malfoy isn't the only one with a parent on the school board. I asked my dad a while ago if he would tell me what they decided on it."

"Then why didn't you say anything! I was pretty much talking to myself for an hour!"

Harry smiled softly at him in response. "You looked happy."

That made Tom freeze, and he wanted to ask what Harry meant by it, but Harry had already asked a question about the program and Tom had jumped in to answer.

That was okay, though. They would have plenty of time.

**THE END**

**AN: Hello there, people! Thank you for reading! This was pretty much a trial run to see if I could do interactions between my personal favorite characters, and I think it went well. But what really matters is what you guys think! So please please PLEASE review!**

**This was practice for an actual story I'm planning to write with the Tom/Harry pairing. I don't know when it will be up, but hopefully the first chapter will be published by the end of the month.**


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